Auckland declares flood emergency

BBC reported that New Zealand’s biggest city Auckland has declared a state of emergency after torrential rain caused widespread flooding.

Heavy rainfall on Tuesday filled basements, stranded cars, toppled trees and disrupted rail services. The same area was hit by record rainfall in January and Cyclone Gabrielle a month later.

The torrential rains are expected to last until Wednesday evening local time.

A state of emergency was declared as a precaution and disaster response services have been mobilised, Auckland Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson told reporters.